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Post by Jim Boylston on May 11, 2007 16:56:22 GMT -5
Has anyone read Rick Bass's novel "The Diezmo"? It's about the Mier expedition. I've been interested since its release, but no local library has a copy. They're pretty inexpensive now on Amazon's used book site, so I may order one.
Any opinions on the book?
Jim
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Post by TRK on May 11, 2007 17:27:54 GMT -5
The Somervell/Mier Expedition is one of my big interests, so I should be made to draw a black bean for never getting this book. I plan to remedy that situation asap.
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Post by sloanrodgers on May 11, 2007 22:44:16 GMT -5
I have it, but havn't read it yet. It's one of a few novels based on this tragic expedition. I'm also well-read on this subject. I have most of the historical books and keep my eye out for the others. I'm surprised no one has made a good documentary on the Mier Men.  |
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Post by Jim Boylston on May 12, 2007 11:13:59 GMT -5
I just found that "The Diezmo" is available in serialized form online at www.narrativemagazine.com, in the archives section. Registration is required, but site access is free. Lots of good literary fiction there, too. I noticed that a review favorably compared "Diezmo" to one of my old favorites, Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian". Jim |
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Post by sloanrodgers on May 12, 2007 20:07:49 GMT -5
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Post by Jim Boylston on May 14, 2007 13:04:56 GMT -5
I read the first third of "The Diezmo" yesterday. It's a good read, and the tone is a lot different from that of McCarthy in "Blood Meridian".
While both books are violent ("Meridian" may be the most violent book I've read), "Diezmo" is almost Calvinist in it's POV. I found "Meridian" to be morally ambiguous, which contributed to its horror. It's a lot like Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" as well.
Jim
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Post by TRK on Jun 27, 2007 19:59:07 GMT -5
I finally got around to starting Rick Bass' The Diezmo, and I'm halfway through it. Like Jim, I find the tone of the book pretty mild, almost ethereal. That isn't necessarily a bad thing or inappropriate, but Cormac McCarthy this ain't. Even for a work of historical fiction, there are nagging errors: 1,500 Mexicans weren't killed in the Battle of Mier; probably 600 max, though some accounts have it as low as around 300. Bass gets the timeline and the geography wrong at times. I know of no evidence that the Texans killed a priest and a townsman in cold blood in Mier, and this part seems pretty gratuitous. And what's this nonsense, not once but twice, about different members of the expedition having previously served under Zachary Taylor in New Mexico???  I had big hopes for this book, but thus far I'm not enthralled. We'll see how the rest of the book goes. |
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Post by sloanrodgers on Jul 2, 2007 2:17:44 GMT -5
I finally read my copy of Diezmo and found it real disapointing. The author took liberties with the story as novelists like to do. Worse, the characters weren't really developed and didn't carry the story. Bass explains why he made certain decisions with the plot at the end, which sounds like an odd apology to historians. Oh well, it kept me briefly entertained.  |
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